


Slippers

by artificial-id (mikkz)



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Friends With Benefits, Gen, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Other, if this gets even 1 kudos ill set a cactus on fire and shove it up my ass live on twitch, mentioned ritsuleo but not enough to warrant a tag, so look forward to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-08 03:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11637768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkz/pseuds/artificial-id
Summary: Somewhere in between the fleeting kisses in the bathroom, make-up fresh and lips glossed, the early morning phone calls, mugs of coffee between palms and a phone pressed between ear and shoulder, and the forty minute train rides with only his texts--void of emoticons and grammar--for company, Arashi had fallen in love with Izumi.





	Slippers

Somewhere in between the fleeting kisses in the bathroom, make-up fresh and lips glossed, the early morning phone calls, mugs of coffee between palms and a phone pressed between ear and shoulder, and the forty minute train rides with only his texts--void of emoticons and grammar--for company, Arashi had fallen in love with Izumi.  

Somewhere in between what they'd said would be one-time-only things, hickeys the only proof that anything had ever happened, covered up with foundation and cream; like the things that they'd said were temporary, like Izumi's toothbrush at his apartment, his coffee mugs and make-up and medicine, Arashi's feelings accumulated into piles, confusing but not entirely unwanted.  But they were invisible, shoved down the back of the couch like a lost TV remote; always there, but never noticed.  

And, just like the TV remote, the realization that they were even there only came once they'd been lost.  

"I'm moving," Izumi had said over a bowl of low-fat oatmeal that he stirred rather than ate, characteristically lacking an appetite. "Up north."

"Eh?  That's sudden," Arashi looked over his shoulder at Izumi, elbow-deep in suds and dirty plates. "Any reason, or just looking for a change of scenery?"

"I got a better job offer," Izumi scratched the stubble beginning to dot his chin. "The agency's not as big, but the pay's better, and I'd be getting a lot more exposure.   Company offered me an apartment, too, so I don't have to go through the trouble of house hunting."  

"That's great, Izumi-chan. It could be your big break."  

"Yeah."  

It was arguably a waste of electricity to have the TV droning on in the background, neither particularly interested in the morning talk-show, but it offered background noise to the otherwise quiet apartment.  A dog barked in the distance, and Arashi wondered if Izumi would be able to get a cat at his new apartment.  He wondered if maybe he should get one to keep him company.

"I leave in a week."  

"...That's.... Pretty soon," Arashi frowned, but quickly caught himself.   _Wrinkles, wrinkles_. "Shouldn't they give you more time to prepare?  That's barely any time to sort out the legal side of things, let alone go check out the apartment in advance--"

"They, uh.  They did."  The sentence punctuated by the sound of cutlery against cutlery as Izumi dropped his spoon into the bowl, non-verbally resigning from pretending to eat.  "I got the offer three months ago.  I just..."

_Didn't tell you.  Didn't want to tell you.  Couldn't bare to tell you._

"Well, that's understandable," Arashi spoke around the heaviness on his heart. "These things take time to work out and organize.  I'm sure you'd have told me earlier if you could've."   _  
_

"Yeah."

A week turned into four days, and Izumi stopped coming over.  

At first, it was like one of the many business trips they both often had to leave for; they texted despite Izumi's busyness, and even though his apartment was void of him, Izumi still felt present in his things, in the soy milk that Arashi poured into his coffee despite his strong preference for skim and the secondary loofah that sat in the shower's corner.  But then the milk ran out, and Arashi bought skim because he didn't have to buy soy, and the loofah became a reminder not that Izumi was here, but that he wouldn't be any longer.  

When Izumi texted him that he'd bought replacement toiletries, Arashi didn't hesitate to throw them and the loofah in the trash.

He came back once before his departure. 

"There are some clothes here that I can't replace," Izumi said as he took his shoes off at the door, as if Arashi had ever required a reason for him visiting in he past. "And uh... Well, my train is pretty early in the morning tomorrow and..."

_This might be my last chance to say goodbye._

"That's fine, Izumi-chan. You're always welcome here," Arashi assured. "I would've gotten up early to see you off anyway, but thank you for thinking of me."

Izumi snorted, rolled his shoulders in a stretch and made a beeline for their--Arashi's--bedroom. "Of course you would. You're stupidly selfless sometimes, y'know, Naru-kun."

"Somebody has to be," he followed, mostly because he feared if he were to blink, Izumi would suddenly be gone forever. But, well, it was also really awkward standing in his own hallway while Izumi packed away the last of his things. "World's a cruel place, Izumi-chan~!"

"I'll manage." Izumi dropped his suitcase--grey; practical yet boring--onto the bed and threw open the wardrobe's sliding doors.  Arguably, there wasn't enough room on the rails for all of Arashi's clothes, let alone a good number of Izumi's.  He would say it was only natural, being a model and having do many clothes, but the company didn't let them keep most of their clothes. Truth be told, Arashi just really, really liked clothes.

"I'm leaving some of them here," Izumi explained as he folded his clothes and set the hangers aside. "Do what you want with them; turn them into cat sweaters or something."

"Mm, that's a pretty good idea.  It's been so long since I went home that Nyanko mightn't ever forgive me if I don't return bearing gifts~," Arashi mused. Yeah, it  _was_ a good idea; going home, that is. Though the cat sweater wasn't bad either. Going home, seeing old sights, catching up with his brother's family and his parents...  It might be just the thing he needs to cope with an empty apartment. Maybe he'd meet up with Mika and some other high school friends; he  _did_ wonder how they were all doing nowadays.  Sure, he texted them a lot, but it was different to meeting up and seeing if Leo's hair really  _was_ atrociously pink like Ritsu claimed.

"If you do go home..." Izumi paused in his movements. "Say hi to Ousama and Kuma-kun for me. Y...Yuukun too."

"Of course," Arashi smiled. Makoto and Leo... they were still obstacles for Izumi--still ghosts of things he regularly beat himself up over--but even getting Arashi to say hello to them, to acknowledge that they continued to live outside of those memories and didn't  _actually_ resent him...

That was a step in the right direction.

"Actually, I talked with Ousama recently," Izumi returned to packing hastily, "He texted me out of the blue asking what to get Kuma-kun for their anniversary, and we ended up talking; after I told him not to buy a live fruit bat off the black market, of course."

"He told me he was going to buy Ritsu-chan a bed. Redundant, seeing as they already have a bed, and Ritsu-chan is less than fussy when it comes to choosing places to sleep."

"Right," Izumi sighed. "Poor Kuma-kun; bet he's never gotten a normal gift from that guy. Just bedding and live animals."

Arashi laughed. "Apparently for Ritsu-chan's birthday, he got a whole piano."

"See, now that's just giving somebody a gift so you can use it yourself." Arashi didn't miss the small smile on Izumi's lips.

"Like when you bought me that blender that supposedly beats extra nutrients out of fruit and veg when you make a smoothie with it?" Arashi accused.

"More like when  _you_ bought me those fluffy pink slippers and then wore them literally every time you came over." Izumi shot back, quirking an eyebrow in accusation.  The venom in his voice was fake, and there was a smile threatening to break through his icy exterior.

"You used them the rest of the time," Arashi retorted with a pout.

"Well, yeah. They're  _my_ slippers. It's not like they're the only pair at my place, just wear other ones." 

"They're the comfiest~! I deserve comfortable slippers, Izumi-chan; it's my birth right."

"Uh-huh, well, they're still my slippers and that overrules your 'birth right'." Izumi brought his movements to a stop, lingering in front of the wardrobe. "...Well, that's everything."

"All of it?"

"All of it."

In that case, Izumi should be leaving, heading home to finish up his preparations and get a good night's sleep before his departure at the ass crack of dawn.

But, he's not.

"I..." He began, eyes locked on the wardrobe, emptier than usual. "I'm gonna..."

_I'm gonna miss you._

"I'm gonna go now."

"Yeah," Arashi said softly. "You have everything, right?"

"Yeah. Everything. Um," Izumi turned to face Arashi, but trained his eyes downwards. "Th...thank you, Naru-kun. F-for letting me stay here when I needed it, for staying friends with me for all these years even though I can be a real piece of crap sometimes, for... for everything."

 _You're welcome,_ was what Arashi usually said when Izumi began to insist his kindness was something abnormal, something that had to be repaid for.  But...

"Thank you too, Izumi-chan." 

The words seemed to be enough to make Izumi's gaze flutter upwards to meet his, but not enough to stay, as he quickly averted his eyes.

"I haven't done anything for you to be thankful of." He said firmly. "I've just..."

"Been here." Arashi interrupted. "You've been here for me, Izumi-chan; for almost eight years now. That's longer than anyone else.

"And you might see yourself as a burden to me, as something weighing me down or an annoyance but... You're not. You never have been."

_I love you._

"I..."

_I love you too._

"It's getting late." Izumi blinked, as if he was coming back down to Earth and Arashi's words lit the runway. "You should head home if you wanna get a decent amount of sleep. It's twenty minutes walk home for you, right?"

"Y-yeah," Izumi parroted, "Uh, yeah, it is.  Rounded up, anyway." 

"Aaand I'm betting you haven't had dinner yet, either," Arashi quirked an eyebrow; the spitting image of a concerned mother with his arms folded over his chest. "You'll fade away into nothingness if you don't eat, Izumi-chan~!"

"I didn't say I haven't eaten, don't just assume things." Izumi scolded and dropped his suitcase to the floor.  The handle pulled up with a click.

"Well, have you?"

"...I mean, no, but still, don't assume things. It's annoying." He made his way out of Arashi's room and down the hallway, the wheels of his suitcase click-clacking across the floorboards. "I'll just get something from the station."

"Mhm, sure you will, Izumi-chan. Well, I demand photograph evidence of it tomorrow morning! If not, I will catch the next train up north and feed you myself."

"You don't even know where my new place is," Izumi stopped to put his shoes back on.

"I have my ways, Izumi-chan." He assured. "You can't hide from big sis forever~!"

"If I see you outside my apartment, I'll call the cops." Izumi threatened, hopping on one foot as he forced the other into his sneaker. 

"So cruel~!" Arashi put a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "Ah, well, hopefully it won't come to that--as long as you take a photo as evidence."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, mother." He turned the door handle, and Arashi's heart jumped into his throat.   _He's going to leave. He's going to disappear. You're going to be alone._

"Oh, and Izumi-chan?"

"What?" Izumi looked back to see Arashi take a few strides with those freakishly long legs of his, and wrap his arms around his torso, chin resting between his neck and shoulder. 

Ah, even now, his neck and cheeks flushed with heat at such a thing.

"...You have to come visit when you can, okay? Like, on your way back home for Christmas or birthdays just... stop by and say hello." Arashi whispered. "And you have to text me and call me and facetime me and--"

"Naru-kun, stop."

"And you have to give me your address so I can come visit you when I go up north, and on your birthday and--"

" _Stop._ " Izumi voice wavered on the word, and Arashi fell silent. His hands rest upon Arashi's, shaking, but making no attempt to remove them and for a moment, Arashi just enjoyed the embrace; imagined it was a late morning and he was embracing Izumi as he cooked, admiring the fresh hickeys on his neck and only half acknowledging Izumi's pouty complaints about how annoying he was and how he couldn't cook like this while making no attempt to actually rectify the situation

He let himself imagine, for just a second, that this wasn't the end.

"I have to go." 

But then the door slammed close and his arms, like seemingly everything else, were empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, he found his spare key by the doorstep in a pair of fluffy, pink slippers.

 

**Author's Note:**

> will i write a sequel to this? probably not. am i gonna say there's a possibility i might do so? definitely.
> 
> anyway! thank you for reading this shitshow, brought to you by lowes soil and my all encompassing love for araizu. i hope it's at least not the worst thing you've ever read.
> 
> you can find me on twitter @lcumakun and if that doesn't work check my carrd (on my profile) to see what awful new name ive chosen.


End file.
